Sorry Disgruntled OEMs, But Microsoft is Planning a Second Generation Surface Tablet

Much to the chagrin of Acer and Microsoft's other hardware partners who are less than thrilled with the Redmond company's decision to launch a Windows 8-based tablet of its own, it appears Microsoft's Surface strategy isn't going to be a one-and-done affair, after all. Instead, recent reports suggest Microsoft is already working on a second generation Surface tablet.

More than a dozen job advertisements were noticed on Microsoft's Careers website between June and August in which the Redmond outfit said the Surface team is "currently building the next generation [of] devices that fully express the Windows vision," and that "Surface needs you!"

If not a second generation Surface tablet, Microsoft is certainly working on a Surface something or other. One of the job postings is looking for a mechanical engineer with an "understanding of touch display architecture and experience in mechanical integration of large touch displays into electronics products." That could be a large screen TV or some other type of display, but other postings make it clear Microsoft's Surface team is hiring on the mobile side, too.

Since the first generation Surface isn't even out yet, it's a little tough to speculate on what a Surface 2 could bring to the tablet party, though there are some vague clues in the job postings. One such post is looking for someone to help with "passive and active cooling thermal designs," perhaps indicating that Microsoft wants to improve the Surface tablet's battery life.